Darning attachment



March 31, 1953 H. H. RUSSELL DARNING ATTACHMENT Filed May 2-. 1951 BY IP- g ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 31, 1953 UNITED sr-Ar;

TENT or Fig crashes Y-DAPJNING ATTACHMENT l-ierbert H. Russell, NewHaven, -Cnn :assignor to The Greist Manufacturing Company, .New Haven,Conn a corporation .of Connecticut Application May 2, 1951, Serial No.224,195

2 Claims. (01.112-236) This invention relates to an attachment :forhousehold sewing :machines :and :more particularly to an'attachment .ofthis character for performing adarning operations.

.Inxthe use of .anattachmentiofithe character of that shown in thepresent application, "the presser :foot ::of :the :sewing machine is"not :employed, the attachment :itself having .a clothholding :member,and the attachment is secured to 113113 needle bar as "distinguishedfrom :most sewing machine attachments which are secured to the :presserbar.

:Mostsewing machines in use at the present time are provided with .areciprocable "needle bar :and a clamping member at the lower end of thisbar to clamp the needle removably in place. In ithezpresent constructionmeans are provided for'isecuring the attachment to the needleclampingmember so that it is universally applicable to sewing machines ofmany-different makes. This is, of course, a great advantage for anattachment of this kind for as different makes of sewing machinescften'differ in details of construction; an attachment which will :fitone very often will not fit another, so that aseparate attachment mustbemade for veachmachine.

Also, the present attachment is one which is of very simple constructionin'that it is provided with a cloth-holding member or foot carried by alaterally offset arm or portion of a vertical stem, which stem isslidably mounted in the attaching or clamping member which clamps uponthe needle clamping element. This stem is spring pressed downwardly .sothat it normally stands in its lowermost position with the :foot portionoffset from the stem so that the needle passes through an opening in thefoot. The downward movement of the foot member is limited so that theneedle always stands in this opening even though the foot member israised off the cloth when the needle is raised. With this constructionthe foot member does not need to be secured against lateral movementwith respect to the clamping member of the attachment as the engagementof the needle in the opening in the foot will prevent rotation of thelatter about its stem.

One object of the present invention is to provide a darning attachmentfor sewing machines which will be of simple construction and efiicientin operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a darning attachment forsewing machines which is adapted to be secured to the needle clamp ofthe sewing machine so that the attachment may be applied .to machinesiofman-y 'difierent facturers.

Still another object "of the inventionis .to wirevide a darningattachment having a clothholding foot extending laterally :from a:vertical stem, which stem is. slidablyand .looselymounted in .aU-shaped clamping member which serves as the frame of the attachment :sothat the needle will be disposed :at all times within an openinginthecloth-holding foot.

"To these and other ends the inventionconsists in the novel features andcombinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the'needle bar of a sewing machinehavin my "improved attachments secured thereto; a

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. l; and

Fig. "3 is a perspective view --of the -darning attachment removed fromthe needle bar.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention '1 have shown aneedle bar IB having the usual needle -Il clamped'thereto. At the lowerend 'ofthe needle bar is provided ameedle clamping element whichcomprises a sleeve "f2 which fits over the lower'end of the needle bar,and a laterally'projecting collar 1-3 of cylindrical shape'which isinternally threaded to receive the clamping screw i l. The sleeveportion 12 and collar l3 are either integrally formed 'or rigidlysecured together, and the end of the screw "l4 enters an opening in theneedle bar ii! to clamp the needle H in place. It-would, 'of course, beimpracticable tosecure'the darning attachment to the screw H, but thelaterally extending collar I3 provides a member which surrounds thisscrew and which projects from the sleeve portion [2 so that theattachment may be secured. to this collar.

The attachment comprises a U-shaped clamping member l5 which serves asthe frame, this member being provided adjacent the free ends of the legsl6 and I1 with facing recesses l8 and is to receive the upper and lowerportions of the cylindrical collar [3 so that the legs of this clampingmember may embrace the collar. A screw 20 provided with an enlarged head2| may pass through the upper leg of the clamp and be threaded to thelower leg thereof so that the two legs of the clamping member may bedrawn tightly together to secure the member to the collar. It, ofcourse, may be readily detached by removing the screw and spreading thelegs IGandl'l.

Slidably mounted in the clamp member I5 is a substantially verticallyextending stem 22 provided at its upper end with an enlarged portion 23which limits the downward movement of the stem with respect to theclamping member. This stem is turned laterally at its lower end toprovide a substantially horizontally extending portion 24 whichterminates in a downwardly extending portion 25, the latter carrying asubstantially horizontally extending cloth-holding foot portion 26. Thisfoot portion is bent into circular form so as to provide an opening 21which may receive the needle of the sewing machine.

Embracing the vertically extending portion 22 of the stem is acompression spring 28, the lower portion of which is coiled tightlyabout the horizontally extending portion 24 and as the portion 2-5 ofthe stem member is slightly enlarged, the spring will react against themember 25 at its lower end. The upper end of the spring 28 acts againstthe lower surface of the lower leg 11 of the clamp 15 so that the stem22 will be urged downwardly as far as permitted by the stop member 23.

It will be apparent that as the stem 22 is slidably mounted in theclamp, it may be forced upwardly when the needle bar descends and thefoot portion 26 engages the cloth upon which the darning operations arebeing performed. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, however, theproportions of the parts are such that when the stem 22 is projecteddownwardly by the spring to the full extent permitted by the stop 23,the lower end of the needle H is still disposed within the opening 21 ofthe foot 26 so that the foot member will never be permitted to rotateout of engagement with the needle.

When the needle is in its upper position, as

shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the foot member will be raised from thecloth so that the cloth may be moved as desired by the operator. When,however, the needle is in its lower position, as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 1, the foot will be in engagement with the cloth and will beforced into engagement therewith by th compression of the spring 28 asthe clamping member i5 will move downwardly on the stem 22. As theneedle moves upwardly, the foot 26 will remain in position upon thegoods being held in such position by the spring 28 until the needle barreaches the position shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2, at which timethe stop member 23 will be in engagement with the upper surface of theclamping member I5. Continued movement of the needle will, of course,raise the foot member from the cloth.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the detailsshown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit ofthe invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with the needle bar of a sewing machine having aneedle-clamping element thereon, a darning attachment comprising a clampmember adapted to be secured to said needle-clamping element, adownwardly projecting stem slidably mounted in said clamp member, acloth-holding foot on the lower end of said stem, spring means urgingsaid stem and foot downwardly, said clamp member being of U-shaped formwith spaced legs embracing said needle-clamping element, and means fordrawing said legs together to secure the attachment in place, said stemextending through guiding openings in both of said legs.

2. In combination with the needle bar of a sewing machine having aneedle-clamping element thereon, a darning attachment comprising a clampmember of U-shap-ed form having vertically spaced legs adapted toembrace and be clamped upon said needle-clamping element, a downwardlyprojecting stem slidably mounted in both leg of said clamp member, aclothholding foot on the lower end of said stem, spring means urgingsaid stem and foot downwardly, said stem having a vertically disposedportion at its upper end, an intermediate laterally turned portion atthe lower end of the vertically disposed portion, and a downwardlyextending portion below said laterally turned portion upon which thefoot is carried, and said spring surrounding said vertically disposedand laterally turned portions.

HERBERT H. RUSSELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 823,442 Rodman June 12, 19061,018,622 Karle Feb. 27, 1912 1,452,687 Hemleb Apr. 24, 1923 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 14,027 Germany July 6, 1881

